In Conversation with the Teaching Creativity Team
Interviewed and edited by Gloria Bhiziki and Elise Lee
Introduction (Written by Dr Anjana Bala)
Teaching Creativity is a research project co-designed by Maria Efthymiadou, Yixuan (Zoey) Liu, Sasha Rozanov, Bella Kurankye, and Anjana Bala. Born out of a fellowship from the Eden Center and undergraduates looking for summer research experiences, this project prioritizes emergent frameworks, self-expression, and developing a creative voice rather than a set research goal and predetermined agenda. The researchers have individually and collaboratively worked on two phases of the project: first, they each developed personal creative projects over the summer with little parameters and structure. Despite that, each of them created novel and unique artistic works: Bella has created a short film about Black joy, Zoey a photography-video project that is now turning into a series of zines, Sasha an EP, and Maria a collage on femicide in Greece. They were trained in processes of critique, feedback, and support inspired by the Critical Response Process and DAS Theatre Feedback, processes for giving and receiving artistic feedback. They treated their creative projects like fieldwork (the art object and process as the “field”) and have written auto-ethnographic pieces on this process. Secondly, during the fall, each of them developed their research projects exploring creativity in higher education. Bella is exploring whether assessments can include grading the "process" rather than the end "product," Maria is exploring whether corridors can be sites for ephemeral creativity, Sasha is investigating whether university can be a playful space, and Zoey is designing a collaborative note-taking journal.
Depending on funding, there will likely be a phase 3 in Winter Term 2025, born out of Maria's research and findings, which includes curating their work in a corridor space at LSE. Their work will be curated around the theme of "Unfinished," a recognition that we are always works-in-progress and that whatever we present to the world is only a tiny slice of who we are, like a small door that opens onto forever moving and altering processes.
Can you tell us about the first part of the project?
Bella: My creative project was a short film about capturing the everyday moments of joy within the black community, specifically black women. It challenges the mainstream narrative that confines black identity to struggle and trauma. The short film was collected over 3 or 4 months during the summer. It highlights black joy in an important way that’s never been seen before.
Maria: I created a collage centred around violence against women at the hands of a male partner in Greece using upcycled and recycled materials. Viewers of the piece usually gravitate towards a specific image of a man holding artichokes like a bouquet. The artichokes show the dichotomy within gender roles and how even something romantic could be done with the prospect of gendered expressions such as “What am I going to get out of this and when is she going to get in the kitchen?” I also plan on adding textured aspects inspired by the Wall of Dolls in Italy. It's an art piece on domestic violence with dolls and the names of victims to signify how they’ve been objectified and placed into a societal mould of appearance and promiscuity. To sum everything up, I wrote an Ancient Greek quote in red lipstick on the collage because it’s the colour of blood and love. The quote ‘Έρως ανίκατε μάχαν’ is from Antigone by Sophocles and translates to “Love, unbeatable in battle” but I follow it with a question mark, because is love really unbeatable?
Sasha: For my project, I’ve been writing songs. This isn’t something I’m new to, but I’ve never committed to a collection of songs. I thought more about what I was communicating because I was aware of an audience and the anthropological thought underpinning the project. For me, the nature of songwriting is introspective observations that you unravel and figuring out how to communicate what feels intangible and try to map a sentiment onto the listener. I explored different modes of configuration and playing, writing, and re-writing and I considered the role of mental environments in communicating that which feels intangible.
Zoey: My creative project is a photography collection, and the theme is the Japanese word ‘瞬き (Mabataki)’ which means “in the blink of an eye”. I wanted to express this through photography where something disappears in a second and you only realise the importance of this meaningful moment later. I began with a video, but after reviewing it, I found there was something unsatisfying, so I began to design my own zines to explore whether there is something experimental and inspirational beyond only visual aspects. Today, I just went to the London Graphic Centre to test different papers.
Were there any difficulties you encountered in the project?
Maria: We started from nothing and were told to do something creative. And as cool as that is, it was also overwhelming to have so many options and wait for inspiration. Other than the difficulty of deciding what to do at first, my topic is sensitive and personal to everyone. I feel like most women, if not all, can relate to this, whether it’s fear in the presence of a man, or worrying about how you’re getting home that night. I considered whether I was portraying it in the right light, if I was excluding some experiences or if I could trigger someone. At the end of the day, I felt that working in the abstract was freeing and translated what I wanted to say; it's direct but not necessarily graphic.
Sasha: Communicating through abstract forms is difficult – it's like filtering through an endless ball pit and trying to find the centre based on an inkling of something you want to express. You have no logical direction and must navigate the rational with the intuitive. I would play the piano or write in a reactionary way then go back to reason and tweak things from a standpoint of craft. In my reflections, I found it hard to be present and create well with time constraints and when sharing a space with my brother. Social media would also distract me with the ways other people create and the myriads of processes in the professional world that I couldn't access. It’s so psychological when part of the self is invested in it.
Bella: I agree, it was like trying to find something in a ball pit. I had no idea what I was filming because I had no plan or script and ended up overwhelmed, especially when putting the film together. It's particularly interesting when you create something without a direction because once I put the footage together it all made sense. That was the most magical thing to me.
Sasha: Completely agree with having no direction. Often, you discover what the song is meant to be halfway through the process. I feel like that’s the human aspect of it as well.
Zoey: Photography could be considered a traditional methodology in anthropology. In last year’s course, we discussed indigenous media and the debate about “giving the camera back”. Whilst taking photos, I couldn’t find an answer to whether I have a right to represent others, which became the main reason I decided to make zines instead, so I could express my confusion and position towards these ethical questions. This debate persists in anthropology, and I wanted to use zines to express this.
Anjana: Part of this project’s intention was that anyone can be creative, and it isn’t something taught but rather, as Sasha is exploring in her own work, prompted. I believe students can gain confidence in their own creative voices by entering this place of discomfort and acknowledging creativity must come from themselves. Beginnings always evoke a sense of crisis. I think that it can be empowering once you get over that difficulty. I also think that’s what university is about—learning how to navigate independent choices. Of course, with the right support when necessary and acknowledging that this navigating comes easier to some than others for a variety of reasons.
Bella: Thank you for giving us the space to meet in a safe space to give each other feedback, advice or support. I remember when my camera broke down and Zoey asked if I wanted to use her camera.
Sasha: You used the word “safe”. Anjana creates a feeling of safety to get stuck, feel uncomfortable, and explore whatever without judgement. As Anjana was saying, creativity is deeply individual and centred around choices. Choices unguided by external restrictions are scary but you also access untapped agency.
Maria: Our unfinished theme gives you so much peace because you get to take your time and get a result you are proud of. I forgot to bring a doll that I was going to stick on a collage back home in Cyprus, but I had the chance to finish it physically as I intended because of the flexible deadline.
Sasha: This differentiation and integration between the deadlines and the unstructured aspects was helpful because we had literature reviews to do, but afterwards, I had all this creative energy, and it felt so good to put away the academic for a second. This marriage between the structured academic side and the creative side was crucial.
Anjana: I want to reiterate that this work is 100% from them. They are not the research assistants, but the researchers. I think it’s important to talk about creative projects as unfinished. I was telling Sasha about how my peers and I only had one day to rehearse for a huge performance at the Royal Albert Hall, so we knew that whatever we offered would be unfinished; we were always going to offer our imperfect selves. So, what does it mean to be okay with that fact? So, we’re just exploring what it means to inculcate unfinished work into artistic processes.
Can you tell us about the second part of the project?
Anjana: They have each designed creative research projects, based on a literature review they conducted over the summer, and are looking at how creativity functions in higher education.
Bella: My research project considers whether educators should shift from grades to alternative assessments. I really hate how we are only assessed on an essay and wish there were creative alternatives. I’m looking at student and academic staff perspectives and how they can be incorporated into traditional grading systems. I'm interviewing four students to document their revision process and how they submit essays, and I’ll ask four academic staff at the LSE to look at it and consider whether this is an appropriate way of assessing students.
Sasha: I was looking at creativity understood as an internal experience of novelty and how you can trigger this novelty. I don’t think the end-product is determined by the amount of creativity but rather the amount of craft. I looked at various ethnographies of playing, especially in rituals. This could mean taking a concept or practice and reconfiguring it by finding different angles and colours to see and remodel tradition. I'm considering the current role of play in the LSE and how often and why it’s used by teachers. Also, how creativity perhaps depends on experiences of presence and play. In the creative project, I found myself engaging with play and reconfiguration the most when distractions were absent. I’m exploring this in the context of higher education.
Zoey: I'm designing a collaborative journal, focussing on the inseparability between critical and creative thinking. In the first part, every student each week can present their ideas from a course in the journal in any creative form: photography, sketches or catalogues. The second part is a questionnaire that critiques the previous person’s work in the journal which could be from a student, a classmate, or an academic staff member. After the process, I will reveal to them whose work they have critiqued and discover if this breaks down the power hierarchy; or it deepens your understanding of the course materials.
Maria: I wondered what spaces trigger creativity in higher education within individuals or collectives, so I decided to investigate the role of corridors in triggering creativity, especially those that have visuals in them and social interactions that happen within them. I read some literature in which staff mentioned how informal spaces like kitchenettes helped provide inspiration and creativity in their teaching. Therefore, I wanted to see how corridors which we consider liminal and unimportant are expanded in use. I will be looking into this through participant observation and then interviewing five students, five teaching staff and five non-teaching staff. I’ll ask them the role corridors play in their day-to-day interactions and consider what we can add to them to trigger creativity, as well as about their views on creativity in their respective roles.
Anjana: The whole thing is iterative; one person prompts another to consider something else. Hopefully, their work will be able to go up to the third-floor corridor or wherever they are comfortable sharing their art. What's nice is that I may suggest something, and they can refuse and challenge me, and set boundaries. This helps them develop their voice.
Anjana, how do art and academia intersect?
Anjana: Anthropology and art intersect on numerous levels: many anthropologists have an artistic practice, and most artists I know consider themselves researchers, it is just a different kind of "research" than we imagine in academia proper. For me, an artistic practice has been crucial for me to develop a sense of cognitive flexibility, curatorial thinking, and above all, self-confidence.
Anjana, are there any challenges to being an artist and an anthropologist at the same time?
Anjana: I don't see any challenges per say. Artists and academics both balance a lot of different projects at once, it is just that a portion of my projects are more embodied. I see my dance work as a kind of "edited collection" or "conference", which are both ways of bringing together many different minds, ideas, and practices.